Baku, Azerbaijan, March 10
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
Iranian defense ministry delivered dozens of home-made Ashura and Zulfiqar speedboats to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy during a ceremony in the Bandar Abbas port in southern Iran.
Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan and the IRGC Navy Commander Admiral Ali Fadavi attended the ceremony, Fars news agency reported March 10.
During the ceremony, Admiral Fadavi announced that the next year Iran's defense ministry will start the production of speedboats making 80 knots.
The IRGC navy currently possesses boats capable to sail at 60 knots, he added.
The new generation of the Zolfaghar vessel is capable of launching Nasr-1 missiles, and sailing at a speed of 70 knots. It is claimed to be able to operate in an average wave height of 1.21 meters, while its missiles will effectively work at a height of 1.25 meters.
Ashura small boats were used for mine laying and MLRS (multiple launch rocket systems) attacks during the Iran-Iraq war and formed the bulk of the MLRS boat fleet during the 1990s.
Still widely deployed, they are however overshadowed by more recent designs.
Iranian media outlets report that Iran has made great achievements in its defense sector and attained self-sufficiency in producing essential military equipment and systems in recent years.
Iran has manufactured its own tanks, armored personnel carriers, missiles, radars, boats, submarines and fighter planes since 1992. Iran also unveiled its first domestically-manufactured long-range unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in 2010.